City Garden Montessori School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
431671014
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Saint Louis, MO, USA
Phone
3146647646
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Education N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$11,603,437
Expenses
$11,281,832
Assets
$15,389,127
Liabilities
$12,655,573

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CHRISTINE HUCK (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • CHRISTINE HUCK (CEO): $177,694 total reported compensation
  • MICHAEL FLOHR (CURRICULUM DIR): $142,892 total reported compensation
  • DAVID BLANK (COO): $142,231 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Provide a high-quality education to a diverse student population, following the philosophy of dr. Maria montessori, and to cultivate young people who value and respect themselves, others, the environment and the world community.

What it reported doing in 2024

Preschool: to provide a high-quality education to a diverse student population, following the philosphy of dr. Maria montessori, and to cultivate young people who value and respect themselves, others, the environment and the world community. The school provides services for children ages three through six years.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 81% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 42
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 73.4%; rating input score 73
  • Program expense ratio: 75.3%; rating input score 75
  • Fundraising efficiency: $27.61 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 2.8%; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.36; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.82; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.3%; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12.9% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 13.6% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 22.3% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 73.4% of revenue deployed · 75.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $8.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $178K · 14 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 21 of 21 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 45/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 47/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 13/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 48/100.